KnightShade and the Wolf: Black Scorpion
by Pawapafu
Summary: Original Characters. A mysterious new gang shows up in Deroit, killing off former Lin Kuei warriors. KnightShade and Wolf investigate, but more secrets arise as the leader of this Black Scorpion reveals themselves as someone from KnightShade's past.
1. The Emergence of Fate

Part One: The Emergence of Fate  
  
I used to sit up here, on the rooftop of my apartment, just watching people scurry about in the streets below and thinking about things that could have and/or should have been. It was a wholly depressing part of my daily routine.  
  
Lately I find myself sitting up here watching him, sitting with his feet dangling over the ledge and plucking a guitar he lifted from a grunge punk we caught beating his girlfriend. Wolf has a natural talent for the thing, although he couldn't for the life of him tell me where he learned it. It's just something I've learned to cope with. Things pop up with no explanation and you just have to go with the flow. I guess that's true for all things.  
  
It's been a month and a half since Wolf and I hooked up and it's been going great. We haven't said the three little words, and don't intend to, because those three little words can really fuck a relationship over. We spend most of our time together, day and night, and where that would usually threaten a companionship, it's strengthened it. He got a job at the telecommunications place I work at(he's a janitor-the only thing they'd hire him for without a diploma or any ID), and we make my old rounds together. At first I thought it would be cramping my style to have a partner, I mean I'm not Batman or anything and he's certainly not Robin, but it's really worked out well. He fights with a style that I've come to understand is something like Bruce Lee's "Jeet Kune Do," which roughly translated means "hitch up your pants and kill the fucker." No joke.  
  
By the way, we caught "the Mutilator," if you care. I cut off the guy's fingers, toes, ears, and penis and stuffed them all in a very delicate area, in homage to what the pervert did to those little girls. I called it poetic justice. Wolf called it twisted. Still, the sinful get what they deserve, right?  
  
I never got too close to Wolf, though. I never let him in on all my secrets. How would he have reacted? I mean, I don't want anything to do with myself, why would he if he knew? It's been my experience that guys aren't usually attracted to former chinese assasins, unless, of course, they themselves are chinese assasins too. No, I had no intention of letting him in on every sordid little detail.  
  
Untill I was forced to.  
  
It looked like just another gang had surfaced in "the Murder City" that night, when we rolled up on that double murder just five minutes too late. Two gay men in expensive armani suits had laid dead with two bullets each in their skulls before us in the alley made famous for its drug dealings and gangsta bangs. The men were laid out in a lewd expression, and at first, I wondered if they were actually gay in life or if the killer or killers just posed them for his/hers/their own personal enjoyment. One was a black man, mid twenties, and had a slender build. This one had a gay pride pin on, so I concluded that the homosexuality had been pre-mortem. The other was a chinese man, no older than me. At first I thought armed robbery gone sour, but upon inspection, Wolf and I found their wallets completely untouched.  
  
"What do you make of it?" he asked, handing me the worn leather wallet.  
  
"It's a wallet full of cash," I said, flipping through three hundred dollars worth of twenties and fifties. I quickly removed the bills and placed them in my back pocket.  
  
"What are you doing?" Wolf said under a raised eyebrow. "That's called stealing, you know."  
  
"He's not gonna need it anymore," I mused, flipping through the pictures of the chinese man. I looked up and smiled. "Besides, how do you think we fund this organization?"  
  
"You mean we're not Jerry's kids?" Wolf quipped, which I chose to ignore.  
  
I flipped to his driver's liscense, and froze when I saw the name. Tan Shokonama. Why did that sound familiar? And that face. I had seen that face before. I pulled the driver's license from it's pocket in the wallet, and kept that too.  
  
"And why did you take that?"  
  
"Don't ask so many questions, Wolf. I have a feeling about this," I muttered as my eyes wandered up the wall to the fire escape. A piece of paper was stuck to the stairwell, spattered with blood. "What is that?"  
  
I hopped up on the stairwell with one fluid motion and picked up the worn paper. Wolf looked up with his arms crossed over his chest. I held the paper for him to see, smirked, and then hopped back down to the ground.  
  
"The police might want that at some time...they call it evidence, I think," he smiled.  
  
"Oh, hush. Why make their job easier? Make 'em earn them donuts," I said, carefully unrolling the paper. Chinese symbols and a picture of a black tribal-esque scorpion adorned the fine parchment. I was able to translate it. "All...who...witness the black scorpion's wrath...are laid to waste."  
  
"How the hell did you get that from that?" he said, looking over the symbols.  
  
"I'm chinese, Wolf, I can read chinese," I replied, stuffing the paper into my pocket with the driver's liscense. Sirens started screaming over the hill. "Let's go, there's nothing more we can do for these guys now."  
  
We escaped the scene just in time to see the red and blue lights of the squad cars, and I stood at the edge of the rooftop for a moment to watch the inept force immediately slap "turf hit" on the case file and run away with the bodies.  
  
Something kept bothering me about that double murder, even into the week afterwards. I couldn't for the life of me remember where I had seen the dead man before. I knew I'd seen him in mother China, but other than that, zip.  
  
It was a Saturday morning. Wolf was plucking at that damned guitar while sitting out on the fire escape, and I was just finishing wiping down my bowie knife and placed it back in my sheath. It was getting stuffy in the tiny apartment, and so I decided to step out for a breath of fresh air. I crawled out the window onto the fire escape where Wolf sat, kissed his head softly and told him I'd be back in about ten minutes or so. He nodded, half listening.  
  
"Bring back munchies, babe," he mumbled, strumming at the worn strings.  
  
I reentered the apartment just long enough to throw my leather jacket on and put my bowie knife in my shoe, just in case. You never know what kind of whackos roam the streets in the daylight, let alone what goes on after the sun goes down. I took the freight elevator down to the ground floor of the complex, as I always do. I don't particularly like the idea of having my neighbors know when I'm in and when I'm not in my apartment; it's not paranoia, it's realism. Sometimes, you'll end up with less in your apartment when you get back.  
  
As I walked down the street toward the Kwik-Stop, my mind wandered back to the mystery of the dead man in the alley. I really shouldn't have worried so much about it, new gangs roll up on this block every three days...and this "Black Scorpion," probably wouldn't have lasted five minutes up against the Bleeding Dragon or Laughing Coyote, the two biggest and rival gangs of this part of town.  
  
What bothered me most was the victim. Shokonama was a business man. What would a gangsta want with a business man, if not the money? And the paper(hell, let's call it what it was. A scroll). Perhaps Shokonama saw something he wasn't supposed to see, or perhaps as a kid he was a part of this gang, and they were just weeding out the unfaithful. I mentally kick myself for not checking the body for gang tattoos. I'm convinced the other dead man was Shokonama's lover who just got caught in the crossfire.  
  
I was walking accrossed the street when something caught my eye. Just ahead of me an asian man, dressed in black dragged a heavy trash bag into the alley. Normally, it would mean it was trash day. But the trash doesn't come on Saturdays in this neck of the woods. Suspicious? Not really. He could have forgotten it the night before, or this could be a new bag, but I had another wierd feeling about it. I don't know why. I scanned for his thoughts, but suprisingly, found nothing. So I ignored it.  
  
I entered the Kwik-Stop, grabbed a couple of beers and a bag of Funyuns, and made my way to the front counter. A punk girl with a hot pink mowhawk carded me, took my money, bagged my items and sent me on my way. Friendly little freak.  
  
When I exited the store, reds and blues were flashing around like it was a figgin' light show. I swear, the whole precinct was at the very alley I had just walked by five minutes before. I knew something was up, but for some reason, I ignored my urges.  
  
I slowly walked by the crime scene, picking up the spare thoughts of the detective on the case. At first they almost overwhelmed me, but after a minute, I went with the cerebral flow and just listened intently to them.  
  
[Jesus H. Christ, not another one. Another fuckin' rich chink in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some fucking nutball bags this guy, suffocates him slowly, then throws 'im in the dumpster with some oriental shit on the bag? Fuck, I wish these guys'd stop getting their ideas from "Seven;" and if they're gonna off someone, stop fuckin' with the cops. I gotta call a fucking translator to figure out this fucking backwards shit.]  
  
Another dick with a badge.  
  
Still, another victim of this Black Scorpion. I soon concluded that these guys(or this guy, for all I knew) weren't simple gangstas...they were methodical. Serial killer(s), perhaps. I wondered if the message on the note was the same as the one I grabbed off of Shokonama. Again, I mentally kick myself for not investigating this before the pork arrived.  
  
I made my way back home to find Wolf watching Saturday morning cartoons. He's got one hell of an inner child. I've never seen any adult with the same kind of anticipation that he has with that sort of thing. He's the only one I know that still thinks that eventually, one of the coyote's plans will work. I peeled off my leather jacket, tossed the Funyons to Wolf, popped the tops to the brewskies, and sat down beside him.  
  
"We got work to do tonight, pretty boy," I said, watching the coyote plummet from a cliff. "The Black Scorpion hit again, but the cops got to the scene before I got a chance to investigate."  
  
"So I guess we're not going to the movies," he said, throwing back a swig.  
  
"Nope. I didn't want to see it anyway."  
  
Being a Saturday night, we had a few setbacks before we actually started investigating the Black Scorpion. Every monster of humanity converges on this night and it's really hard for a vigilante to get much done. While you're breaking up a beating on fifth street, you're missing a rape on the upper west side. While you're shooting out a drive by, you're oblivious to a murder. I hate Saturdays. I hate them like most people hate Mondays.  
  
Anyway, after deciding to give up on the onslaught of lowlifes and focused on the Scorpion, the Pit was the first place we were to hit if we were going to get any answers. The Pit is just what it sounds like, a dive bar for the chinese and korean gangs to throw back a few. When in Rome, right?  
  
I told Wolf to stay at the door and make sure nobody entered while I went in. Yeah, I know it was childish, but I wanted this one all to myself. For some reason, I sensed it was for me alone. As if, though not completely unfolded, this case had ties into my past.  
  
The bar was filled with Bleeding Dragon and other assorted allied asian gangstas, drinking themselves in stupors, mauling over chinese whores, and flashing their nines. I looked over these stupid shits and began to feel a true hatred for this enemy. Any one of these gang members might know where I might find some answers about this Black Scorpion.  
  
I approached the bartender, who was polishing a shotglass, leaned up against the bar, and smiled condescendingly.  
  
"I'm looking for someone," I said flatly as I ran my fingers down the bar.  
  
"Are you one of Chin's new girls?" slurred the bartender, stepping closer to me. He put his hand to my face and began to run his middle and index finger down my cheek. "I'm sure you go for what, one-fifty? One-seventy-five?"  
  
Oh, that was it. So much for diplomacy. I grabbed his wrist, twisted it behind his back as he turned, slammed his hand to the bar, pulled my knife from my boot, and pushed the blade through his hand and the wood of the bar. After I pinned the bartender, I grabbed a handful of black greasy hair and yanked back. Yelping in pain, I believed I had the bartender's complete attention. The other restaurateurs, however, took little notice.  
  
"More than you could ever afford, trust me," I whispered into his ear. "Now as I was saying, I'm looking for someone. And I think..."  
  
I pulled my glock from my holster, aimed for the ceiling, and fired. Suddenly, the room went quiet and everyone turned their attention to me.  
  
"...Someone here can help me."  
  
"W-what do you want to know?" whimpered the bartender, his blood beginning to drip down on to a barstool.  
  
Murmurs and quiet whispers echoed throughout the bar, mostly people finally realizing that the KnightShade was very real, not just some ghost story they tell to scare  
each other. I love to see the terrible moment of clarity in a lowlife's eyes when he finds out that the boogeyman, or in this case boogeywoman, exists and has come for him.  
  
"I'm looking for a new gang in town called the Black Scorpion. Now, I figure at least one of you has some information as to where I might find them. Anyone?" I said, waving the gun in front of the crowd.  
  
A Bleeding Dragon got up and ran for the door. I aimed and fired dead on, and the man's right leg went out from under him. I then shot the left one out, just in case.  
  
"No one leaves untill I get some information. Unless of course you want to end up like Stumpy over there," I smiled. "Now, who will cast the first stone?"  
  
Not one peep.  
  
"Come on," I said. "God punishes the reluctant."  
  
Finally, a whore stood up. I aimed at her, just in case she wanted to run.  
  
"W-w-wait. Don't shoot. I have information you want. Just...just don't shoot me."  
  
I read the girl's thoughts. Pure. She knew something, she wasn't bluffing.  
  
"There you go. See? Now that wasn't so painful, was it?"  
  
I holstered the glock and pulled the knife from the bartender's hand. I motioned for her to come to me, and when she did, I placed my hand on her shoulder.  
  
"We'll talk outside. Come on."  
  
I led her out the door, slowly, watching the patrons of the bar, making sure they weren't following. Some eyes were glowering at the whore, as if to castigate her for speaking to me, or to rat someone out. I exited the bar with the young girl, nodded to Wolf, and stood with him by the door.  
  
"What do you know?" he said, smiling at me. "You can get positive results."  
  
"Who are the Black Scorpion, Ming?" I said.  
  
"They kill me if I tell you, but I think maybe you kill them first?"  
  
I nodded. Her english wasn't very good, but the basic idea was conveyed.  
  
"The Black Scorpion...they no gang. They assasins. About five of them. They killing off old enemy of theirs."  
  
"Where are they from? New York? L.A.?" Wolf asked.  
  
"China. The Black Scorpion are ninja."  
  
Ninja. What the fuck? I turned away for a moment, contemplating. It all came together. Shokonama...he was a colleague of mine in the dojo where I trained years ago, when I was just eight years old. If what this girl was saying was true, and I wasn't reading any deception in her mind, then that meant that the ninja were back, and they might be after me. The lin kuei might have made many enemies, but none were as dangerous as these guys.  
  
Wolf sensed that this had effected me, and put his hand on my arm.  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
"No," I said, moving his arm away and re-focusing my attention. "Ming, where are they hiding?"  
  
"I no know. No one does. But they next target is member of Red Blade gang. He in hiding, but I know where he is. I turn trick for him sometime."  
  
"Where is he?" I asked.  
  
"In hotel just outside of city. Motor City Lodge. His name Tanaka. He be there untill Black Scorpion give up on him."  
  
"Thank you, Ming," I said, patting her on the shoulder. "You're okay to go now. And if I can suggest something, clean up your act. You're better than what you've become. Clean yourself up or I might come after you someday."  
  
"Okay, KnightShade, I clean up act, you see. I go now, but what about boy in there? They tell Scorpion I talk to you and bam! I dead!"  
  
"Don't worry about it, Ming. You did something for me, and now I'll do something for you. Go on and don't look back," I looked into the seventeen year old girl's eyes, and with a new clarity, she nodded and ran away. I looked at Wolf, who had a sly glint in his eyes. "Well, Wolf...feel up to a little liquidation?"  
  
I turned toward the bar's doorway and smiled. This was gonna be fun.  
  
As the Pit burned to the ground and the firemen rushed to the scene, I sat atop the building accross the street, watching intently. Wolf kicked his legs back and forth against the ledge, holding a small bag of microwave popcorn. The firefighters pulled thirty bullet riddled and charred corpses from the blackened rubble as the police labeled it another turf hit and went on their way.  
  
"If only we had marshmallows," I mused, plucking a few popcorn kernels from my teeth.  
  
I was still deep in thought about the whole ninja thing. If they were killing off former members of the lin kuei, were they after me? It's difficult to tell, this is a big city. Shokonama was a member longer than I. He stayed, even after the rebellion. When our small group of renegades left, he stuck by Oniro. Why would he be in Detroit now? I had no idea that he was gay, but that's unimportant. Just an interesting tidbit of information. Tanaka was a real asshole, though. He was the one who came to me and told me my husband was dead. Didn't sugar coat it at all, just "hey, Anna, how are ya? By the way, your husband's been mutilated." He stayed too. If this ninja clan was after disbanded lin kuei members, it's possible they might not have been after the renegades. I knew nothing at this point, and I was just writing symbols in the sand. I knew one thing, though. The Black Scorpion, whether or not they're after me, were going to square off against me. The question was, would I be able to take on five at once?  
  
"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there, Anna?" Wolf said, pulling me back to reality. "What do you know about this case?"  
  
"Nothing, Wolf," I said quietly as I wiped the congealing blood from my knife.  
  
"That's bullshit," he said, looking into my eyes again. "Tell me."  
  
"Okay, okay," I said. I had to throw something at him to shut him up. I was determined to keep my skeletons in my closet. After all, my baggage was my baggage, no matter how much I cared about Wolf. "I have heard of the ninja before. They're a band of honorless assasins. I also knew Shokonama, the first victim," Truth. "He...was in business with me back in mother China," Truth. Kind of. "But I don't know why they'd be after him or anything else for that matter," Bullshit.  
  
He bought it for the time being. "Okay, then. What's the plan?"  
  
"The plan is we get home and get some sleep. We'll deal with this tomorrow night," I said with a yawn and a stretch.  
  
I stood, turned, and headed for home, with Wolf right behind me. When we got there, I unarmed myself, peeled off my clothes, and slid under the covers. After a few minutes of the Home Shopping Network, Wolf followed suit and joined me in the bed. We would deal with this later when we had clear heads.  
  
End of Part One 


	2. The Blood Red River

Part two: The Blood Red River  
  
Tanaka was an asshole, more now than ever.  
  
Questioning him on my own, proved fruitful, if not chaotic. I sent Wolf on patrol that night, claiming that there was no need for the both of us to go when there were more crimes going on. He didn't completely buy it, but did as he was asked. God, I love the power of the vagina.  
  
I must say, Tanaka was quite suprised by my appearence in his hotel room as he disrobed, pulled the shower curtain back, and found me sitting in his unfilled bathtub. As he shreiked and stumbled backward, I rose quickly and grabbed him. We spoke in chinese.  
  
"Hello, Tanaka. Remember me?" I said, letting go of his arm and scooping up his kimono. I brushed the floor dirt off of it and tossed it at him.  
  
"I wondered if that mysterious KnightShade that took out the Pit was actually Ms. Anna Maru," Tanaka said, holding the silk robe in front of his nether regions. "Now I know. How are you?"  
  
"I'm not here to catch up on old times, Tanaka. You know why I'm here," I said as I shook my head. "And for Christ's sake, put the robe on."  
  
"The Black Scorpion, huh? What, have they marked you too?" Tanaka asked as he threw the kimono over his shoulders and tied the waistband. "I shouldn't think they would have. You left before it happened."  
  
"Before what happened? Jesus Christ, Tanaka, Shokonama's dead and I don't know what's going on."  
  
"I know," he sighed, leaning against the sink. "Lon-Fei Cal's dead too. Suffocation. Horrible way to go. I'd hate to see what they've got planned for me."  
  
I was stunned. Lon-Fei Cal was my ex-boyfriend's brother. The uncle to the dead fetus that spurned this mission of vengeance. Another close friend of mine gone, and I ignored his death. That weighed on what was left of my conscience.  
  
"Why are they after you?" I asked, choking back those thoughts for the moment.  
  
"Please, Anna, if you're here, you know why. They're a cult of ninja, I'm former lin kuei. It's really not much more complicated than that. Well, mostly."  
  
"Mostly? Spill it," I smirked, patting my holster.  
  
"Okay, okay. Here's the abridged version," he said, pacing slowly. "Shortly after you and your turncoat friends left the lin kuei, war broke out between the honorless ninja and our clan. We were winning, for the most part, until Oniro discovered a double agent. I do not recall his name, but the traitor was beaten relentlessly and left to die on the battlefield by your dead husband's sister, Min Mei. The lin kuei won the war, and we thought we decimated the entire ninja clan. We were wrong. I found out later about a secret project within the ninja ranks that... improved upon the warriors that volunteered."  
  
"That sounds familiar," I mused.  
  
"Oh, like you never made any mistakes."  
  
"Mine never murdered and mutilated women's husbands."  
  
"Can I continue?" he snapped. I nodded, and signaled for him to go on. "The project, which meant men and women undergoing hormone enhancement and quasi-steroid treatment to augment their fighting capability and raise their threshold for pain, was headed by a man named Wo-Pai Nung. There were six test subjects when the project finally bottomed out. As much as we tried looking for them, the so called 'Project: Black Scorpion' had completely disappeared. Now they've resurfaced and they're taking out those who defeated their clan. Shokonama and Cal were not the first and they will not be the last."  
  
"They take out Oniro yet?"  
  
"Not that I know of."  
  
"Damn. Me, I woulda gotten him first. I still might, now that I think of it."  
  
"I'll tell you where you can find him if you help me," he smiled.  
  
"You're a coward, Tanaka. You're hiding from your enemies, you're begging for help from an another enemy, and you're willing to betray your sensei. What happened to you?"  
  
"I grew up. Like it or not, Maru, the cowards are the smart ones. You ever hear the saying 'the meek shall inherit the earth?' Do you know why? The strong will destroy each other and leave everything to those who won't fight."  
  
I was disgusted. So this is what the great lin kuei had become. Maybe I should let the Black Scorpion destroy the last remnants of the cult. I considered it for a moment, and also considered killing Tanaka myself. As tempting as the latter was, I could use him alive. For the moment.  
  
"Give me Oniro's address, and the address of the Black Scorpion hideout. I know you have both," I said, walking closer to him. "And I'll let you live."  
  
Being the coward Tanaka now was, he graciously agreed and scribbled the addresses on a piece of paper. Oniro lived in New York city, the owner of a hunan restaurant in Chinatown. I had been wanting a piece of the fuck who had ordered my husband killed, and now that I knew where he was hiding, I'd have to take a trip and pay a visit. But that was a project for a later date.  
  
The Black Scorpion, if Tanaka gave me the right address, were residing in an abandoned warehouse in the old industrial district on the lower east side. Wolf and I would have to investigate later, after I met up with him again.  
  
I bid Tanaka adieu and slipped out the window from whence I came. As I slid down the fire escape, I kept thinking about the things the coward told me. Genetically enhanced ninja? Taking five on at once was going to be bad enough, but turn them into Superman and I was really going to be in for some fun.  
  
Although, my thoughts were jarred by the explosion. Then again, so was my whole body. I was thrown from the fire escape and seared by the jumping fireball before I heard the deafening "kaboom." After I landed on the hard concrete and cracked a couple ribs, I looked up to see the hotel building in flames, the strongest coming from the window I had just exited from.  
  
Chalk another up for the Black Scorpion, I thought as I slowly blinked out of consciousness.  
  
It was dark in my dream. Dark and confusing, lit only by the moon. I was naked, too, but shame did not effect me. Like Adam. I stumbled in the darkness, alone and without cause. There was a woman's voice calling out to me. I didn't recognize the voice but I knew I should. She sounded so loving and distressed, as if she was missing a part of herself and needed me to find peace. There was never any embodiment to the voice.  
  
I remember falling. It is said that in dreams one cannot feel pain. I don't know who said this, but they never experienced this dream. I fell, for what seems like ages, through vines and thorns, scraping...clawing at me. As if I were sliding down an immense rose stem. When I landed, I felt as if I was bleeding out on to the hard ground. As I looked around me, I saw a literal river of blood, more blood than could have ever come from my body. I wade in the red flood up to my waist, not fully comprehending what was happening. The voice grew into a mournful wail, almost inhuman. She cried out to me, but I could never make out any words. My wounds continued to throb and pulse with each agonizing howl. It was as if with each scream, the stinging pain intensified. I tried to move through the river, but the current was against me and I soon got swept up in the undertow.  
  
More pain.  
  
I felt a great swell of pity for the voice. She needed me and I could do nothing for her. I was still adrift in the river, desperate and gasping for air in the swell of blood. I swallowed a mouthful of the red fluid, sputtered and choked. I groped for something to hold on to, to stop myself. I finally grabbed ahold of a rope dangling over me that I could swear wasn't there before. I didn't think too much about it and climbed on.  
  
Then everything disappeared and I stumbled around in the darkness again. I was coated from head to toe in the blood from the river, and it had quite a black tint in the moonlight. The voice, like everything else save for the moon, was gone. I laid down, wearied from my ordeal, wearied from the pain, and wearied from my own personal failure. I remember weeping.  
  
And dying.  
  
I awoke in my bed, being shook slightly by Wolf. He had brought me out of harms way and tended to my wounds before wakening me, but the pain in my side still stabbed into me. I didn't know how long I had been out, but that dream didn't help anything. It was so realistic, so vivid.  
  
So not mine.  
  
It was Wolf's dream, the dream I saw in his head the first night I met him. So what was it doing in my head? So far, I'd been able to barely control my telepathy, but now I'd been invaded by this strange vision. I was at a loss, but I knew someone who wouldn't be. The man who gave me this gift, one of my best friends, Quinn.  
  
But I couldn't worry about that now. Self preservation wasn't as important as tracking the Black Scorpion down. I tried to sit up, winced, fell back, and then tried again. I fought with myself for a moment, and then finally pulled myself together. Wolf offered me his hand, but I stood up on my own.  
  
"Careful," he said, putting his hand on the small of my back gently. "You had one hell of a bump tonight. Care to tell me what happened?"  
  
"They got Tanaka," I muttered, rubbing my temples. My head was killing me. "But not before I got an address."  
  
"Good," he replied. "We'll go tomorrow, after you've recovered."  
  
"No. I think they know that Tanaka was talking to someone. It has to be now or they might not be there when we show up."  
  
"You're in no condition..."  
  
"Look!" I yelled. "I'm not some damsel in distress and I'm not some goddamn shrinking violet! I don't need your protection."  
  
"And I need your honesty, Anna!" he said, matching my volume. "There is more to this than you're telling me, and I want to know why."  
  
"I'm going to find them tonight," I said, holstering my pistol and heading for the door. "With or without you."  
  
"Look, I'm sorry. You're right. I know you can take care of yourself, but can you at least tell me what the hell is going on? How did you know Shokonama? Or Tanaka? What of this ninja?"  
  
"I'll tell you when I get this straightened out," I said as I reached for my whip.  
  
He sighed and looked around. He walked out into the living room, sat on the couch and started pulling on his boots.  
  
"Okay," he called. "I'll go with you. But you have to promise you'll let me in on this little secret when it's all over."  
  
"Yeah," I said. "I promise."  
  
"Hey, can you grab my hairband from the bathroom? I don't want my hair getting in my face when I'm fighting these guys," he said, now standing in the doorway.  
  
I nodded and headed into the bathroom. As I turned away from the door and grabbed the hair tie, I got a flash in my mind again. Danger.  
  
Not fast enough. Before I knew it, the door slammed behind me. I ran to it, turning the knob and pushing my shoulder against it. Something blocked the door from the other side. My rage took over as I pounded on the door.  
  
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Wolf! Let me out!" I screamed, slamming my already aching side into the door.  
  
"You're in no condition to fight, Anna! This was the only way I could convince you not to go. Now, I'm going to track these guys down for you, and I'm going to take care of them for you. And when I get back, I'll let you out."  
  
I reached for my glock instinctively. Gone. This guy had to have been a pickpocket before he lost his memory. I punched the mirror, bruising a few knuckles as the glass shattered.  
  
"You don't know these guys, Wolf, I do. I don't even know if I can handle them. I know if you go out there by yourself, you'll get your ass handed to you!"  
  
No answer. The slam of a door. I punched the wall this time, and pain shot through my knuckles again. He's such an ass! He's brash, impulsive, spiteful....and now that I actually had time to realize it, just like me. I backed up against the wall and slid down. I sat cross-legged on the bathroom floor.  
  
He was going to get himself killed. As skilled as he was in Jeet Kun Do, I knew there was no way in hell he could take on all five of these genetically enhanced ninja. I harbored no ill will toward him, only worry that he too was going to join those I could not save in the land of the dead. If I had told him everything to begin with, I wouldn't be locked in the bathroom at that moment. I blamed myself. And I was going to have alot of time to think about it.  
  
END OF PART TWO. 


End file.
